A Coward's Promise
by Aisalynn
Summary: Spoilers for HBP. Oneshot drabble that I wrote after I finished reading. Snape runs to escape his own memory.


**Warning: All right, I am going to warn you now that this contains SPOILERS for the HALF BLOOD PRINCE. And that it was written completely in denial. I just finished reading the book, and I refuse to admit that my absolute favorite character is completely evil. So, basically, this short fic here is nothing but the ramblings of an obsessive, in denial, fan. Enjoy.**

**Oh, and I don't own Harry Potter, cause if I did. NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED! And Harry _definitely_ would not be dating Ginny.**

_Severus…_

Snape panted as he ran, his wand clutched tightly in his fist. He could no longer hear the faint sounds from Hogwarts, it was far behind him. Nor could he hear the irregular thumping footsteps of the Death Eater siblings, or Draco's sharp, gasping breaths. He had told them to Apparate ahead of him. But he still ran. He still ran, though no one was pursuing him, and the only sound was his own breathing, his own footsteps, and the painful echoes in his own mind.

_Severus… please…_

He sped up, staggering forward as though, if he could run fast enough, he could escape the memory.

_…Dumbledore leaning weak and crumpled against the wall… Severus… Pleading, blue eyes locked on his… a flash of a thought. Feeble, last of his strength…Revulsion rippled through him, crawling up his spine and arms and throat. He could taste it… Severus…please…_

"_Severus, please. You must promise me this."_

_He stared at the man across from him in horror. "You cannot ask this of me."_

_Dumbledore's face was perfectly calm. "I can, and I will."_

_He stood and turned his back on him, only to whirl back around a second later. "No. I made the vow; I shall deal with the consequences. It matters not." _

_"It does matter. But this is about more than just the vow you made."_

_"No. I will n—" _

_"Severus." Dumbledore's gaze was stony and unfaltering. "You will do this for me. You will give me your word."_

_He said nothing._

He stopped running. His entire body was shaking with exhaustion and repressed emotion, but he didn't give in and allow his body to collapse. Instead he stood there, his body rigid, his face twisted in hatred.

That boy. How dare he! To call him a coward! An animalistic growl erupted from him as his rage took over, and he threw himself against a nearby tree, slamming his fist into it. A coward! He, Snape thought viciously, would never have to do what Snape had done that night. No, he would always have someone there, someone to save his neck, to sacrifice themselves or do the dirty work so precious Potter wouldn't tarnish his pure, loving, _golden_ hands. He slammed his fist into the tree again. And it was all for him! It was all for him, who stood, immobilized in the shadows. The Boy Who Lived. The Chosen One. That ungrateful, _wretched…_

With a snarl Snape wrenched himself from the tree. He looked around. He was miles away from Hogwarts, he had been running for quite sometime. Too long. The Dark Lord would not be happy he took so long to report.

_Severus…please. …A flash of a thought… an image of a boy frozen in the shadows…your word, Severus…_

Snape looked down at his hand, which was still clenched in a fist. Slowly, he relaxed it. Blood ran down his fingers and dripped into the grass. He had cut his hand on the tree.

_Pleading, blue eyes… So weak… so frail…His wand in his hand…Avada Ke…_

Mechanically, Snape used his wand to heal the cut. No use bleeding all over the Dark Lord's carpet when he showed up, he was already going to be angry. The Dark Lord was suspicious. Just because you killed off his enemy and most powerful wizard for the light does not mean you will be spared an… _interrogation_ when you arrive late.

_Severus..._

He prepared himself to Apparate to Voldemort's headquarters. He was still acting on Dumbledore's orders, only this time, there was no Dumbledore to offer protection or wisdom. There was no one. Snape was completely on his own. Alone. With only the echoes of a memory still chasing him.

_Severus… Severus, please._


End file.
